Quick Hit Monday: FUSION Links; A Bride’s View; Great Wedding Shoot Sheet; and Lots of Photoshop & Lightroom Tutorials

Good Morning Everybody,

We're off to a fresh start this week with my Spring 2011 International Digital Master Class getting underway this morning.  We have a full house with photographers from around the country and Canada attending this Spring session. 

One of the enriching aspects of my Digital Master Class is the diversity and background of the attendees.  As we all get and begin to know each other over these next five days, all of us, including me,  get to soak up and share the experiences and expertise of everyone in attendance. It's a great way to learn and grow.

Last week was such a "bear" of a week, it was just nice to slow it down yesterday and just get caught up on some of my reading.  I found some real gems over the weekend so I hope you enjoy them.  Here we go...

A Few More Quick Notes From Our FUSION Webcast

Last week's FUSION Webcast was great!  All the comments were positive and I think the webcast opened the eyes for several photographers that just might want to give it a try.  Over the weekend, I managed to get the webcast posted for all our DPT readers to view.  Here is the link right here.

One cool aspect from this webcast was the Twitter feed we ran during the program.  Ariane and I were easily able to see the questions coming across the Tweet feed and answer most in real time.  In addition, a few of our viewers sent additional links over they thought may be valuable to all who were tuned in to the program, or even watching it later. 

Here are two of my favorites:

The FUSION photographer's Ultimate FUSION gear setup right here.

Thanks to DPT reader Jon Ulner for the link.

One of my favorite sources for Royalty free music has always been Triple Scoop Music [link]. 

Paul Johnson, one of our DPR readers from Great Britain, says that he really enjoys using Audio Jungle [link]. He likes the selection and price. Hey, go check it out.  I think I'll take a peek myself.  Thanks Paul.

Once again, thanks to all that tuned in last Thursday and, thanks for all who offered questions and suggestions which enriched the program even more.

A View From The Bride's Side

Probably one of the most interesting posts I read over the weekend was from my  good buddy, Mark Zucker, President of Zookbinders.  Mark's company surveys a large number of brides and found that now up to 80% of the brides are taking "Disk Only" delivery of their wedding photographs.  Six years ago that "Disk Only" number was only 20%. 

Lots of photographers have gone out of business because of the trend, but several others have managed to survive and thrive on this brand new playing field.

What is more interesting is the fact that Mark is in the album making business. What's his take on all this?  The bottom line is that brides still want albums, they just don't want the hassle associated with sifting through 1000's of prints online or on a disk and then trying to go through the album building process with their photographer or another online design service.

It’s quite an interesting read, you can read the entire article right here. 

DAZNOTE:  I think Mark's point of view as an industry leader in our profession gives substantial insight into how we photographers might re-visit how we do business with our clients.  Three weeks ago LaDawn's son got married and we are now culling through over 4500 images captured by four professional photographers over the three day celebration. 

LaDawn tells me she has the selection edited down to 2500 - still a lot of images for the bride and groom to sift through.  I suggested she and I do a hard edit down to our favorite 300 images.  We'll upload the much smaller group of images which the bride and groom can move through and enjoy quickly.  Then we'll upload the larger  group that they can browse at their leisure.  On the surface, this seems like a good idea to me. What do you think?

How about I ask Mark to appear in an upcoming webcast and discuss his wedding findings and share his insights in the wedding album market with our DPT viewers.

A Speaking Of Brides -Their Take On The Shoot Sheet

I actually found this post  on a bride-centric site, Wedzilla.com impressed with the thoroughness of this bride's shoot requests, I thought I would pass it on to you.  Here is the link right here. 

I have to tell you, reading through her list, I kept thinking this bride must have been a photographer in a former life - it's about the most complete list I've ever seen, and that includes shoot sheets I've seen from other photographers too!

The other thing that struck me as I read through her list is the number of, dare I say it, bridal portraits she wanted of herself, with the groom, and with family members.  I've said it a million times, people want to look good in front of the camera.  PJ candids are great, but let's not forget to give them what they're asking for too.

If you're new to the wedding photography field, print out this list, study it, memorize it - it's a great reference for any wedding shooter.

Making A Visit Over To Skip's Place

Skip Cohen and I have been friends for many years.  He has been past president of Hasselblad, where I first met him, BTW.  A number of years later he was CEO of WPPI, and now he has moved on to create Marketing Essentials International which is home to "Skip's Summer School".

Skip turned blogger too and has been diligently building content and readership over at his SkipsPhotoNetwork.com for the last several months.  I have been honored to be a guest blogger a few times and even share a little of our DPT content over at his site.

Anyway, I decided to take the internet stroll to Skip's place over the weekend after he told me he had re-run my tutorial "How To Shoot Large Groups".  Here is the link to his post right here.

During the visit, I found several other informative posts too.  Here are a few examples you might enjoy.

1. Creating Rich Black and White Presets in Lightroom [link]
2. Staying Focused On Success [link]
3. How To Improve Your Black and White Portraits [link]

Those are just a few.  Why not head over to Skip's place and check it out for yourself right here - no appointment needed ;~)

And Speaking Of Photoshop and Lightroom

I am such a Photoshop and Lightroom tutorial junkie.  I love finding those little treasure troves and giving them a peak.  I've got another nice list for you today.  Enjoy!

1. 10 Great Video Tutorials On Lightroom [link]
2. The Best Photoshop Tutorials Of March, 2011 [link]
3. Useful Photoshop Video Tutorials [link]
4. How To Speed Up Lightroom [link]

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Hey gang, that's for me today.  Class starts in just a few so I've got to run.  I see you tomorrow for a brand new Technique Tuesday on radio controlled flash entitled, "Budget Conscience Trigger Happy Shooting - Making Your Images Look Good".

See you then,  David